


from afar

by humanveil



Category: Marvel
Genre: Avengers: Endgame (Movie), Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-03
Updated: 2020-10-03
Packaged: 2021-03-07 17:34:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 200
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26791468
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/humanveil/pseuds/humanveil
Summary: Stephen watches.
Relationships: Tony Stark/Stephen Strange
Comments: 4
Kudos: 23





	from afar

**Author's Note:**

> was clearing out my phone notes, found this little ficlet, and figured i might as well post it. written after i first saw endgame and barely edited. enjoy!

It’s strange, the way the inevitable can still be shocking. Stephen has watched Tony die time and again. He has seen this exact scenario before, lived through its emotions: knows how it feels when resignation finally cuts through stubborn denial, knows loss, knows _heartbreak_ , in all its forms, from dull aches to white-hot demolition. He has watched this. All of this. Knows what’s coming. Knows it shouldn’t hurt, not now. Not when he’s experienced this millions and millions and _millions_ of times...

And yet.

Tony stumbles to the ground as an army fades to dust, the threat of Thanos disappearing with the wind. A circle gathers: Tony’s closest loved ones. Stephen stays where he is, because in this reality, that circle doesn’t include him. He watches Rhodes turn his back, a futile attempt to gather the strength needed to watch his best friend die. The kid is next: naive and innocent, still, in the way he begs, as if he could stop the unavoidable with sheer force of will. Potts follows, and Stephen struggles to watch the faux bravado, the melancholic acceptance.

The arc reactor fades to black, the world without its Iron Man, and Stephen falls to his knees.


End file.
